Monika Skougard
My name is Monika Skougaard, and I am interviewing with Brittnee, my best friend.
Brittnee Goldsberry
Not only she's my best friend, but we also get to work with each other every single day at Turn Community Services.
Monika Skougard
Supported living, which is in home care for adults who live on their own with disabilities, Brittany and I met in October of 2020.
Brittnee Goldsberry
COVID year.
Monika Skougard
And now we're friends!
Brittnee Goldsberry
Yeah. Can I share what made you like me at first, the pin?
Brittnee Goldsberry
Oh, yeah.
Brittnee Goldsberry
Okay, so my bestie here is gay, and I am super an advocate, and so I had a pride pin on my book bag. And she went home and told her girlfriend that I am an ally and that I had a pin.
Monika Skougard
It was really nice, because I used to work in a different group home, and the ladies there were not very friendly about LGBT. And then it was nice to just like, open up and be myself with Brittany.
Brittnee Goldsberry
So Monica, tell me — just about your job.
Monika Skougard
My job is awesome. I love my job. Hands on stuff. We do, like, help them live their life: cook their meals, showers, clean their house, brush their teeth, take them on fun trips.
Brittnee Goldsberry
We have turned our program into the party/vacation program.
Monika Skougard
Yeah.
Brittnee Goldsberry
We take our clients out everywhere. We've gone river rafting, we've done cruises.
Monika Skougard
Multiple Vegas & Mesquite trips.
Brittnee Goldsberry
Vegas and Mesquite, and it is hard, but it is the best part.
Monika Skougard
So, so, so, so fun. Anything that you and I can do, we try to provide for our individuals.
Brittnee Goldsberry
Yes. I got very close to a few of the clients in Monika's home. We both had a very good relationship with this client specifically, and she unexpectedly passed away. She had a really bad seizure and was put on life support. And she didn't have any family here, so Monika and I, and Ibis, and our old director got to sit with her while she was taken off life support. And it is nothing like the movies. At all. It took like an hour.
Monika Skougard
Yeah. After the fact of getting taken off.
Brittnee Goldsberry
And we had to go forward and plan her funeral. Thankfully, before her mom had passed away, she had all the things set up. It was just...
Monika Skougard
Putting it into place.
Brittnee Goldsberry
Getting her clothes and putting things into place.
Monika Skougard
Painting her nails.
Brittnee Goldsberry
We did choose to paint her nails, which — I don't suggest doing that if people aren't alive.
Monika Skougard
It's really hard to go from holding somebody's hand almost every day. Feeling their life, and then going to paint their nails, and their hand is like stiff as a rock.
Brittnee Goldsberry
But it was just her favorite thing, so we felt like we owed it to her.
Monika Skougard
And they put too much makeup on her.
Brittnee Goldsberry
Yeah, and then I got mad and told them to clean her face because she didn't wear makeup. But I want to talk about the dream.
Monika Skougard
Oh, yeah.
Brittnee Goldsberry
Turn is like —
Monika Skougard
Statewide.
Brittnee Goldsberry
All of Utah. Maintenance isn't here a ton, but somehow our maintenance department was down in St George.
Monika Skougard
They were able to be-
Brittnee Goldsberry
Pallbearers.
Monika Skougard
Pallbearers.
Brittnee Goldsberry
But our maintenance man said the night after the funeral, he had a dream. She couldn't walk anymore, but in his dream, she was sitting in a field of poppies, and she wasn't wearing her helmet,.
Monika Skougard
And she was walking, and talking.
Brittnee Goldsberry
And she stood up and told him, "I'm good. Everything's fine."
Monika Skougard
What's your favorite part?
Brittnee Goldsberry
Oh, so many. Just the clients, and I'm sure you agree.
Monika Skougard
Love them. Love them so so much.
Brittnee Goldsberry
At the end of the day, yes, we, of course, started these jobs to get a paycheck.
Monika Skougard
Oh, yeah,
Brittnee Goldsberry
But I feel like they do more for us than we do for them.
